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Monday, August 27, 2012

This simple, healthy dip is packed with fresh basil, parsley, chives, and garlic.

This has been a pretty challenging year in my kitchen garden, but despite the heat, drought, Japanese beetles, blister beetles, flea beetles, cabbage worms, the brazen herd of deer that isn't afraid of dogs, and probably some other things I've already blocked out of my mind, I've still managed to harvest a fair amount of bounty.

The tomatoes and sweet peppers are finally ripening, and before that there were three kinds of kale, several varieties of Swiss chard, three types of bush beans, four kinds of onions, along with garlic, potatoes, and fresh herbs galore, including Greek oregano, basil, parsley, chives, lemon thyme and English thyme, rosemary, and lemon balm.

Sometimes there's more than we can eat in the garden, but of course that doesn't stop me from buying extra bounty from other gardeners. The first day our Amish friends opened up their little front porch farm stand, I loaded up with bags of green beans, new red potatoes, Japanese cucumbers, several big zucchini, and 13 ears of just picked sweet corn.

My kitchen is usually overflowing—in a good way.

Recipe below. . .

At one point this season there were 160 cured garlic plants sitting in a basket on the floor and three pounds of freshly picked green beans on the counter. I filled up one of our three big stainless steel kitchen sinks with Red Russian kale, and at various times the refrigerator has been stuffed with arugula, lettuce, more green beans, and Swiss chard.

And then there's the giant cooler I use as back up refrigerator space for much of the year. It lives next to the chest freezers that are filled with homegrown lamb and beef. This morning I found five giant zucchini in there I don't even remember buying.

Having a batch of this flavorful, herb-packed dip on hand in the fridge makes it easy to bypass the sweets and grab a healthy snack of fresh summer veggies instead (although it's also great with potato chips). Or thin it out with a little milk or buttermilk to make a flavorful salad dressing. You could even put it in a pita with some greens and chopped vegetables.

As always, I urge you to seek out local and organic ingredients; they really do make a difference. If you let the dip chill for at least a few hours before serving (or overnight) it'll taste even better. You can make this using all sour cream or all yogurt if desired. Greek yogurt will give you a thicker dip.

In a small bowl, combine the sour cream, yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, garlic, granulated onion, salt, and pepper and mix well. Stir in the basil, parsley, and chives.

Chill for at least two hours (or overnight) to allow the flavors to develop. Garnish with minced chives and serve with fresh raw vegetables, pretzels, or chips. For salad dressing, stir in enough milk or buttermilk until desired consistency.

Hey Kiddo! This summer I did store some basil on the counter in a little glass of water and it did sprout! Shocked me (although I had probably read your older post about a pal of yours doing just that :)) and seemed a great idea to pot it up! Susan, I do have one of those terrific fridges with French doors, and it is sublime! I ADORE IT!!! Feel very spoiled every time I open the doors and survey the bounty. Thank you Dad! Love the sound of your gorgeous basil dip. Reminds me much of your delicious Buttermilk Ranch Dip! LOVE IT TOO!!!

Hey Susan- I recently made your Buttermilk Ranch Dip and it is delish! I'll be making this one too, mostly because basil is one of my very favorite things and one of the only things I'm growing fresh--on my balcony no less! BTW, love your blog, been with you for a very long time! Hope you're feeling better. God bless you and yours! :)

January 2013 update: I know word verification is a big pain, but it's the only way I can stop the ridiculous number of anonymous spam comments I get every day. I don't want to require commenters to be registered Blogger or Open ID users because I know many of you aren't. Thanks so much for your understanding!

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